[A Pleasurable Headache] Peak 90s comics; Books are hardy; Empires are shitty
This week’s links:
- Maximum Carnage (yes, that one)
- The book as a resilient artifact
- The facade of Britishness
- Non combatants in videogames
- American Empire in fiction
An Oral History of ‘Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage’
https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/oral-history-spider-man-maximum-carnage-game
Pretty self explanatory, but this is everything you hoped and dreamed for with a title like that.
Stab a Book, the Book Won’t Die
https://craigmod.com/essays/media_accounting/
I missed this one the first time around. I’m a subscriber to Craig Mod’s newsletter (and you should be too if you aren’t already). In this essay he espouses the advantages of the book (mostly the printed kind) and its resilience as a format in the face of so much competition.
As a bonus, his Wired piece on his ‘disconnected’ walk in Japan is also interesting.
Tea, Biscuits, and Empire: The Long Con of Britishness
https://longreads.com/2020/06/18/the-long-con-of-britishness/
Laurie Penny knocking it out of the park in this essay on the two faces of Britain. First, is the homogenized, airbrushed version presented to the world - Harry Potter, Downton Abbey, tea, crumpets and posh accents. Second is the reality, the jingoistic xenophobia, the never-discussed colonialist horrors of the empire, and a nation divided.
“The stories we export lay bare the failing heart of Britain’s sense of itself in the world — the assumption that all we have to do, individually or collectively, is show up with a charming accent and say something quaint and doors will open for us, as will wallets, legs, and negotiations for favorable trade deals.”
“This summer, Black Lives Matter protests are boiling around a nation that has never reexamined its imperial legacy because it is convinced it is the protagonist of world history. Conversation around what “British” means remains vaguely distasteful. “Culturally our stories are of plucky underdogs,” historian Snow told me. “But actually our national story was of massive expenditure on the world’s most complex weapon systems and smashing the shit out of less fiscally and technological societies.”
Please, Don’t Shoot the Engineers of Halo 3: ODST
https://www.fanbyte.com/features/please-dont-shoot-the-engineers-of-halo-3-odst/
Julie Muncy at FanByte on how non-combatants in virtual warzones are treated, comparing it to the more nuanced take in the underrated Halo: ODST.
“Each of these experiences, if responded to attentively, serves as a lesson in what the Engineers are and how to treat them. It’s one of the most experimental things Bungie ever tried in the entire Halo franchise: an object lesson in mercy, in coming to understand why the conventional gamer wisdom of “shoot the medic first” is more a war crime than good advice.”
The Storytellers of Empire
https://www.guernicamag.com/shamsie_02_01_2012/
This article from Guernica magazine is coming up on being eight years old at this point, but it’s all still very pertinent, with novelist Kamila Shamsie putting American Empire under the microscope and asking why fiction from the country is all too quick to shy away from examining it.
Despite Covid, local lockdowns and having to change venues and hotels about five days before the ceremony, our wedding last week went off without a hitch. The weather was typically British and overcast with rain never really abating all day. Despite that, despite all of the obstacles and restrictions being thrown into the ring, I couldn’t be happier without how everything went. Thank you to all who sent along their congratulations via this newsletter or elsewhere.
See you in two!